Because of the prevalence of the HIV virus, there has been increased awareness in the health care industry for the protection of health care personnel. Health care personnel have been urged to use gloves, gowns, goggles and masks to provide a safe work environment when exposed to blood, chemicals, or other potentially infectious or hazardous materials.
One area in which protection of personnel is needed is in the use and handling of receptacles intended to collect gastric and respiratory secretions, or chemotherapeutic agents in emesis.
In the past, emesis basins have been used for receiving and handling of these secretions. The typical emesis basin is kidney-shaped, and is relatively shallow, having a depth of about two inches. Health care personnel are exposed to risk during disposing of secretions from the emesis basin and cleansing the basin, which is intended to be reusable. More specifically, the shallow nature of the typical emesis basin can result in splashing of the secretion as it is deposited in the basin, and if the basin is relatively full, any tilting of the basin during handling can cause spillage. Because of the open nature of the emesis basin, there is increased risk of exposure due to splashing or spilling of the secretion, and during cleaning of the basin.
While the convention emesis basis has embossed graduations indicating the volumetric content, the graduations are difficult to read by health care personnel. As a further disadvantage, the conventional emesis basin has a limited volume of about 500 cc, and in certain cases the volume of the secreted material may overwhelm the capacity of the basin.
It has also been found that in many cases the conventional emesis basin is not properly cleaned, resulting in an unsanitary condition and generating odors. Cleaning of the emesis basin is not only an unpleasant task, but also requires substantial time.